27
THINTERNATIONAL
CONGRESS FOR
CONSERVATION BIOLOGY
4
THEUROPEAN CONGRESS
FOR CONSERVATION
BIOLOGY
MISSION
BIODIVERSITY:
CHOOSING
NEW PATHS FOR
CONSERVATION
ABSTRACT BOOK
M O N T PE L L I E R ,
F R A N C E
The Society for Conservation Biology (SCB), a global society of conservation
students and professionals, held in August 2015 in Montpellier, France its 27th
International Congress for Conservation Biology, jointly hosted with the 4th
European Congress for Conservation Biology. SCB celebrated its 30th birthday with
its largest conference ever, comprised of 2063 attendees, 782 poster presentations
and 943 oral presentations organized in 74 contributed sessions and 73 symposia
sessions.
The theme of the conference “Mission Biodiversity: Choosing new paths for
conservation” represented a response to the fact that the traditional methods
for conserving biodiversity need to adapt and change to match the
ever-changing nature and needs of today’s world. It emphasized that the same rapid
and ongoing biophysical and societal changes our world is facing also affect
conservation science and practice.
We are asking very different questions than what we asked years ago, and using different methods to get
the data we need to answer these questions. Increasingly, we work with people from different disciplines
such as political science, computer science, economics, and social science, among others. We investigate
different challenges that range from new pathogens and invasive species to new drivers of habitat loss
such as oil palm production in West Africa to tangled socio-political issues such as the growing illegal
trade of species and their parts on the internet. We are developing new methods and tools to address
these challenges with on-the-ground conservation, such as using drones and new remote-sensing
technology for monitoring and conservation enforcement or citizen science projects for collecting data
and engaging the public. Unsurprisingly, one of the most common words in abstracts presented at
ICCB-ECCB abstracts was “change.” The ICCB-ICCB-ECCB 2015 theme and its scientific content, summarized in this
Abstract Book, document these changes and our need to keep up with, and even anticipate them for
better conservation science and practice.
ICCB-ECCB 2015 featured several presentations, workshops and training courses that provided solutions
to prevent or mitigate anthropogenic threats, and celebrated several exemplary success stories through
the mini-plenaries from the Society’s Distinguished Service and Early Career Conservationist awardees.
ICCB-ECCB 2015 also featured an open debate starring Peter Kareiva and Clive Spash on Conservation
Biology today; and how its fundamental principles and values are changing over time.
We would like to thank all participants,
organizers and sponsors of ICCB-ECCB 2015
for their excellent work at the conference,
and we look forward to many more
conservation success stories in the coming
years.
—Piero Visconti, Marit Wilkerson,
Edward Game and Raphael Mathevet
How To Cite This Book:
Visconti P., Game E., Mathevet R., Wilkerson M. Proceedings of the 27th International Congress for Conservation Biology and 4th European Congress for Conservation Biology. Montpellier 2-6 August 2015. SCB; 2015.
27
TH
INTERNATIONAL CONGRESS
FOR CONSERVATION BIOLOGY
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T H
E U RO PE A N C O N G R E S S
F O R C O N S E RVAT I O N B I O LO G Y
ABOUT THE SOCIET Y FOR CONSERVATION BIOLOGY
SCB is a global community of conservation professionals with members working in more than 100 countries who are dedicated to advancing the science and practice of conserving Earth’s biological diversity. The Society’s membership comprises a wide range of people interested in the conservation and study of biological diversity: resource managers, educators, government and private conservation workers, and students.
SCB publishes the flagship peer-reviewed journal of the field, Conservation Biology, and the cutting-edge online journal, Conservation Letters. The Society provides many benefits to its community, including local, regional, and global networking, an active conservation-policy program, and free online access to publications for members in developing countries. SCB also administers a postdoctoral program, the David H. Smith Conservation Research Fellowship Program, sponsored by the Cedar Tree Foundation.
Example Citation Of A Contribution To This Book Watson J. Mapping vulnerability and conservation adaptation strategies under climate change across global terrestrial ecosystem [abstract]. In: Proceedings of the 27th International Congress for Conservation Biology and 4th European Congress for Conservation Biology. Visconti P., Game E., Mathevet R., Wilkerson M. editors.
Montpellier 2-6 August 2015. p. 745. SCB; 2015.
For any queries on regards to this book of abstracts please contact Nathan Spillman nspillman@conbio.org
ABSTRACTS
ICCB • ECCB 2015 PAGE 558
MAPPING BUNDLES OF ECOSYSTEM SERVICES
REVEALS DISTINCT TYPES OF MULTIFUNCTIONALITY
WITHIN A SWEDISH LANDSCAPE
Cibele Queiroz
Stockholm University
Megan MEACHAM, Stockholm Resilience Centre ; Kristina RICHTER, Stockholm Resilience Centre ; Erik ANDERSSON, Stockholm Resilience Centre ; Albert NORSTRÖM, Stockholm Resilience Centre ; Jon NORBERG, Stockholm Resilience Centre ; Garry PETERSON, Stockholm Resilience Centre
Ecosystem services can be a valuable tool to be used in the planning and management of social-ecological landscapes. However, the understanding of the determinant factors affecting the interaction between services in the form of synergies or trade-offs is still limited. We assessed the production of 16 ecosystem services across 62 municipalities in the Norrström drainage basin, Sweden. We combined GIS data with publically available information for quantifying and mapping the distribution of services. Additionally, we calculated the diversity of ecosystem services for each municipality and used correlations and k means clustering analyses to assess the existence bundles of ecosystem services. We found five distinct types of bundles of ecosystem services spatially agglomerated in the landscape that could be explained by regional social and ecological gradients. Human dominated landscapes were highly multifunctional in our study area and urban densely populated areas were hotspots of cultural services.
GLACIER RETREAT EFFECT ON PEAT LAND POOL
METACOMMUNITIES IN THE HIGH BOLIVIAN ANDES
Estefania Quenta Herrera
Institut de Recherche sur la Biologie de l’Insecte (IRBI), Université François-Rabelais
Karina GONZALES, Unidad de Limnología, Instituto de Ecología. Universidad Mayor de San Andrés. ; Jorge MOLINA, Unidad de Limnología, Instituto de Ecología. Universidad Mayor de San Andrés. ; Jérôme Casas CASAS, Institut de Recherche sur la Biologie de l’Insecte (IRBI), Université François-Rabelais ; Dean JACOBSEN, Freshwater Biological Laboratory, Department of Biology, University of Copenhagen ; Olivier DANGLES, Institut de Recherche pour le Développement, UMR EGCE
High altitude Bolivian peat lands concentrate many services such as high biodiversity and support of endangered wildlife, support of livestock production especially during the dry season, regulation of organic matter decomposition influencing regional carbon cycle, and filtering and regulation of water for hundreds of thousands of people. These peat lands are also one of the most threatened ecosystems of the world as they are extremely sensitive to climate change, due to change
in water provision from melting glaciers and the impact of temperature rise on biodiversity, and human disturbance, due to land transformation, burning, mining activity and drainage. As peat land habitats can be viewed as green islands in the arid environment of the Bolivian Cordilleras, several studies have shown that their biodiversity is tightly related to their size and habitat heterogeneity, which depends on the provision of melt water from surrounding glaciers. Here we investigated the relationship between glacier influence, peat land area and environmental heterogeneity on the organization of aquatic metacommunities living in pool networks characteristic of Bolivian peat lands. We select 200 pools of 20 peat lands in the Cordillera Real (above 4500 m. asl) where we analyzed the metacommunity structure of zooplankton, macrophytes, algae and macroinvertebrates at different levels of spatial scale (α, β and γ diversity). We found that the aquatic environmental heterogeneity of peat lands was positively correlated with the percent of glacier cover in the catchment and positively affected βand γdiversity. Local diversity in each pool was best explained by the percentage of macrophytes cover and water conductivity. The turbidity levels of the peat lands were positively correlated to the percent of glacier cover in the catchment.
124 THE CHALLENGE OF ACHIEVING NO NET LOSS
IN THE FORESTS OF CENTRAL AFRICA
Fabien Quétier
Biotope
Pauwel DE WACHTER, WWF ; Hélène DESSARD, CIRAD ; Laurène FEINTRENIE, CIRAD ; Claude GARCIA, CIRAD[INSTITUTE]ETH The Tri-National Dja - Odzala - Minkebe Forest landscape (TRIDOM) covers 178000 km2 across the borders of Cameroon, Gabon and the Republic of Congo. Almost 97% is covered by sparsely populated lowland tropical rainforest and is globally important for the conservation of large mammals (elephants, gorillas, chimpanzees). It is also an emerging iron ore province with several deposits currently being explored and two mining projects ready for exploitation. Encouraging investment while respecting the legal and customary rights of local populations and conserving biodiversity represents a major challenge. Conservationists fear that the needed infrastructure (railroads, roads, transmission lines, hydropower dams) and the associated impacts (especially from the influx of population) will lead to the fragmentation of TRIDOM. It risks being reduced to a mosaic of vulnerable, isolated protected areas, no longer fit to conserve its mega-fauna or maintain large scale ecosystem processes, but developing mining projects with a no-net loss (NNL) or even a net gain (NG) biodiversity objective as a condition for access to finance raises considerable technical and institutional challenges. A landscape-level approach is needed to take into account and mitigate indirect and cumulative impacts. Land-use rights are granted through
ABSTRACTS
ICCB • ECCB 2015 PAGE 559 sector-specific concessions that have varying requirements
in terms of biodiversity and rural livelihoods. Elaborating long-term arrangements for implementing and financing biodiversity offsets will thus require close collaboration
between financial institutions, mining companies, conservation NGOs and government bodies from different sectors. We investigate the opportunities and obstacles for achieving NNL/NG objectives in the TRIDOM and draw lessons for other biodiversity-rich landscapes faced with the perspective of large-scale environmental and socio-economic changes.
CAVE DISTURBANCES AND ITS EFFECTS TO
CAVE-DWELLING BATS IN A SMALL ISLAND IN SOUTHERN
PHILIPPINES
Ma Nina Regina Quibod
Adamson University
Anna Pauline DE GUIA, University of the Philippines Los Banos ; Virginia CUEVAS, University of the Philippines Los Banos ; Ireneo LIT JR, University of the Philippines Los Banos ; Phillip ALVIOLA, University of the Philippines Los Banos
Caves are among the habitats and/or resources that are critically important to the ecology of a number of species, especially cave-dependent species like bats. These habitats are utilized by bats as sites for roosting, courtship and mating, maternity, and hibernation. More than 2,000 caves have been documented in the Philippines, yet cave research is very poor. To address and fill the gaps of knowledge on caves and cave bats in the country, a baseline study on the ecology of cave-dwelling bats in a highly disturbed small island in the southern region was conducted. Thirty caves with different diversity, architecture, microclimate, and disturbances were surveyed, wherein the types and degree of disturbances were correlated to the species richness and abundance of cave-dwelling bats. A total of 16 anthropogenic disturbances were identified outside and inside the caves surveyed, including proofs of bat hunting activities. The survey showed that most caves in the island are moderately to highly disturbed. Important disturbances to consider are visitation/tourism, guano harvesting, and proofs of bat hunting such as bamboo poles, remains of bonfires, torches, and nets. A positive and significant relationship was determined with species richness, abundance, and degree of disturbance in this study. Statistical results showed that disturbed caves have high species richness and abundance. However, the architecture of the cave plays an important role on the presence of high species richness and abundance in disturbed caves. These findings also pose alarm as it reveals that disturbances are concentrated in species rich and
abundant caves. Hence, conflicts between cave use (especially tourism) and cave conservation are perceived, as caves with high species richness and abundances (often large caves) are also the most prized tourist destinations.
MODELLING HYBRIDIZATION WITH
DENSITY-DEPENDENT RANGE EXPANSION AND ITS
IMPLICATIONS FOR CONSERVATION
Claudio S. Quilodrán
University of Geneva
Béatrice NUSSBERGER, University of Zurich ; Juan I. MONTOYA-BURGOS, University of Geneva ; Mathias CURRAT, University of Geneva
The dynamics of range expansion need to be taken into account when studying the genetic consequences of an invasive species spreading and interbreeding with native populations. This is also critical when interbreeding results from shifts in the natural distribution of species due to climate change. Among the species interactions that take place during range expansions, hybridization is of growing concern in conservation biology. Models aimed at studying the genetic consequences of species range expansion have been recently developed but usually assume dispersal to be independent from local population densities. However, organisms may disperse because they are attracted by conspecifics, or to the contrary because they prefer depopulated areas. These behaviours are referred to as positive or negative migratory responses toward conspecifics. Here, through spatially explicit simulations, we assess the effects of various forms of density-dependent dispersal during range expansion on the genetic introgression between two interacting species. We show that massive introgression of neutral genes in the invasive species occurs in all the density-dependent dispersal models (positive and negative), even when hybridization is relatively low. For a given hybridization rate the levels of introgression are lower when dispersal is negatively related to local densities and higher under positive density-dependent dispersal. Our results suggest that organisms that tend to disperse due to conspecific attraction are more affected by genetic introgression. As a consequence they are more threatened by hybridization, which in turn is enhanced by anthropogenic factors and global climate change. We applied our theoretical framework on a real case of hybridization between European wildcat and domestic cat in Switzerland. We highlight that considering density-dependent dispersal in the models has the potential to improve their predictive power and has evident species management implications.
CONSERVATION OF ENDANGERED MARINE SPECIES
AND TRADITIONAL ECOLOGICAL KNOWLEDGE:
CASE STUDY OF HIPPOCAMPUS INGENS “PACIFIC
SEAHORSE” IN PERU.
Marina Quiñe
Laboratoire d’Excellence “CORAIL”, USR 3278 CNRS EPHE UPVD. Centre de Recherche Insulaire et Observatoire de l’Environnement (CRIOBE), CBETM - UPVD. Ecole Pratique
